This is one of the first of a few articles I hope to post about strange events recorded in Genesis that are widely misunderstood and generaly simplified beyond what is reasonable, causing the original meaning of the story to be obscured. When one digs deeper and makes the proper connections within the text of the Torah, what one discovers transforms what initially appears to be a confusing story into one with much deeper significance. Let's start with the very short story in Genesis 9...

According to Judaism there is only one place where offerings to the jewish god can be made–the temple in Jerusalem. Without it, Jews are not authorized to bring offerings at all. This understanding comes from the book of Deuteronomy, which over 20 times mentions a “chosen place” as the only location for offerings and pilgrimage feasts. Surprisingly, an objective read of Deuteronomy itself, paired with ancient manuscript evidence, verses from the Song of the Sea in...

This is the third article in a three part series. If you haven’t yet read the preceding articles, I’ve provided links here. Now it’s time to inspect Samuel’s story.   Samuel was not a legitimate priest Encyclopedia Brittanica says the following of Samuel: Samuel, Hebrew Shmuʾel, (flourished 11th century BC, Israel), religious hero in the history of Israel, represented in the Old Testament in every role of leadership open to a Jewish man...

This is the second article in a three part series. Now that I’ve documented how the jewish god abandoned Israel in the period of the judges, let examine the record of Eli the Priest who appears in 1 Samuel Chapter 1. Some will wonder why this is a question at all. Read further and find out how bad Eli really was!   Reason #1: Eli was a descendent of Itamar In the wilderness, when the Israelites were lured into worshipping false gods by Moabite and Midianite women, the jewish...

Today’s rabbinic Judaism is governed not just by the Hebrew Scriptures, but also by the Talmud, a written collection of oral traditions. After the destruction of Jerusalem in the first century CE and the exile of the Jewish people, it was feared that Jewish tradition would be lost, and around 200 CE Rabbi Judah the Prince redacted the Mishnah. The Mishnah is but one component of the Talmud, but it is the component I will discuss in this article. The Mishnah is what is sometimes...

This is a very important question, because the entire Old Testament (aside from the Torah, the first 5 books of Moses) may hinge upon how early it can be said that the jewish god abandoned his people. The veracity of the Books from 1 Samuel and onward can be judged by how these writings portray the continued presence of the jewish god if it’s obvious he had already abandoned Israel. In fact this article will be the basis of several articles questioning stories that are...